View source for Ruth E. Gordon

{{short description|American bacteriologist}}
'''Ruth Evelyn Gordon''' (1910–2003) was an American bacterial taxonomist.<ref name="SmithGordon1946">{{cite book|author1=Nathan Raymond Smith|author2=Ruth Evelyn Gordon|author3=Francis Eugene Clark|title=Aerobic Mesophilic Sporeforming Bacteria|url=https://archive.org/details/aerobicmesophili559smit|year=1946|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture|page=[https://archive.org/details/aerobicmesophili559smit/page/n2 1]}}</ref> She was member of the American Type Culture Collection. The bacterial genus ''[[Gordonia (bacterium)|Gordonia]]'' (formerly ''Gordona'') and species ''[[Mycobacterium gordonae]]'' are named after her.<ref>{{EMedicine|article|223038|Mycobacterium gordonae}}</ref><ref name="Wayne2011">{{cite book|first=Tiffany K.|last=Wayne|title=American Women of Science Since 1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gPGZJ_YuMwgC&pg=PA448|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-158-9|pages=448–9}}</ref><ref name="Complete genome sequence of Gordonia bronchialis type strain (3410T)">{{cite journal|last1=Ivanova|first1=Natalia|last2=Sikorski|first2=Johannes|last3=Jando|first3=Marlen|last4=Lapidus|first4=Alla|last5=Nolan|first5=Matt|last6=Lucas|first6=Susan|last7=Del Rio|first7=Tijana Glavina|last8=Tice|first8=Hope|last9=Copeland|first9=Alex|last10=Cheng|first10=Jan-Fang|last11=Chen|first11=Feng|last12=Bruce|first12=David|last13=Goodwin|first13=Lynne|last14=Pitluck|first14=Sam|last15=Mavromatis|first15=Konstantinos|last16=Ovchinnikova|first16=Galina|last17=Pati|first17=Amrita|last18=Chen|first18=Amy|last19=Palaniappan|first19=Krishna|last20=Land|first20=Miriam|last21=Hauser|first21=Loren|last22=Chang|first22=Yun-Juan|last23=Jeffries|first23=Cynthia D.|last24=Chain|first24=Patrick|last25=Saunders|first25=Elizabeth|last26=Han|first26=Cliff|last27=Detter|first27=John C.|last28=Brettin|first28=Thomas|last29=Rohde|first29=Manfred|last30=Göker|first30=Markus|last31=Bristow|first31=Jim|last32=Eisen|first32=Jonathan A.|last33=Markowitz|first33=Victor|last34=Hugenholtz|first34=Philip|last35=Klenk|first35=Hans-Peter|last36=Kyrpides|first36=Nikos C.|title=Complete genome sequence of Gordonia bronchialis type strain (3410T)|journal=Standards in Genomic Sciences|date=28 January 2010|volume=2|issue=1|pages=19–28|doi=10.4056/sigs.611106|pmid=21304674|pmc=3035257}}</ref>
Gordon received her PhD in bacteriology from [[Cornell University]] in 1934.<ref name="Wayne2011" />
== Career ==
Gordon worked at the Division of Soil Microbiology at the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] from 1939 to 1942. She studied streptomycetes, which became her area of emphasis.<ref name="Wayne2011" /> In 1946, she began working for the [[ATCC (company)|American Type Culture Collection]] (ATCC) as a bacteriologist. She was promoted to curator in 1947.<ref name="Wayne2011" /> In 1954, she became an assistant professor at [[Rutgers University]]. She became a full professor in 1971.<ref name="Wayne2011" /><ref name="History of the Department">{{cite web|title=History of the Department|url=http://dbm.rutgers.edu/history.html|publisher=Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref> Gordon retired in 1981, but continued to work as a visiting investigator for the ATCC.<ref name="Wayne2011" />
== Research  ==
Gordon had a role in many different research studies throughout her career. In 1952, she was involved in a study focusing on aerobic sporeforming bacteria.<ref name="Wayne2011" /> This research study worked to identify, classify, and name types of aerobic sporeforming bacteria found in the soil.<ref name="Wayne2011" />
In 1953, Gordon assisted in research on rapidly growing, acid-fast bacteria. In this study, she helped collaborate information on the presence of types of bacteria that grow quickly in acid, and helped with expressing the importance of naming and classifying these types of bacteria.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gordon|first=Ruth E.|last2=Smith|first2=Mildred M.|year=1953|title=Rapidly Growing, Acid Fast Bacteria|journal=Department of Microbiology, Rutgers University|publisher=Rutgers University|volume=66|issue=1|pmc=357089|pmid=13069464|pages=41–8}}</ref>
== Publications ==
* A Study of Some Acid-Fast Actinomycetes from Soil with Special Reference to Pathogenicity for Animals (1936)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gordon|first=Ruth E|last2=Hagan|first2=W. A.|year=1936|title=A Study of Some Acid-Fast Actinomycetes from Soil with Special Reference to Pathogenicity for Animals|jstor=30088372|journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=59|issue=2|pages=200–206|doi=10.1093/infdis/59.2.200}}</ref>
* A Study of Some of the Properties of the Toxic Substances Produced by Salmonella Paratyphi A and B (1937)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gordon|first=Ruth E|last2=Stark|first2=C.N.|year=1937|title=A Study of Some of the Properties of the Toxic Substances Produced by Salmonella Paratyphi A and B|jstor=30089184|journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=60|issue=2|pages=238–244|doi=10.1093/infdis/60.2.238}}</ref>
* The Toxicity of Young Cells of Salmonella Paratyphi A and B When Lysed by Bacteriophage (1938)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gordon|first=Ruth E.|last2=Stark|first2=C.N.|year=1938|title=The Toxicity of Young Cells of Salmonella Paratyphi A and B When Lysed by Bacteriophage|journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=62|pages=45–47|doi=10.1093/infdis/62.1.45|jstor=30089256}}</ref>
* Aerobic Mesophilic Sporeforming Bacteria (1946)<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Aerobic Mesophilic Sporeforming Bacteria|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture|url=https://archive.org/details/aerobicmesophili559smit|page=[https://archive.org/details/aerobicmesophili559smit/page/n2 1]|quote=subject:Sporeforming bacteria.|journal=United States Department of Agriculture|location=Washington D.C.|last1=Smith|first1=Nathan Raymond|last2=Gordon|first2=Ruth Evelyn|last3=Clark|first3=Francis Eugene|year=1946}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98504865/ 1951 photograph]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Ruth E.}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:Rutgers University faculty]]
[[Category:American bacteriologists]]
[[Category:American taxonomists]]
[[Category:Women taxonomists]]